A Review of Research on Strategies and Methods for the Revitalization of Urban Historic Districts

Abstract

China has many historic districts. However, with the advancement of large-scale urbanization, these historic districts have suffered of destruction. The government has attached great importance to protecting and revitalizing historic districts in recent years. However, the current protection and revitalization of urban historic districts mainly focus on districts’ morphological integrity and the buildings’ originality. Therefore, we need to examine the whole problem from a macroscopic and micro perspective for this proposition. From a macro point of view, there is a lack of planning and analysis of urban development planning on the revitalization direction and positioning of historic districts; From a micro perspective, there is a lack of analysis of the impact of human behavior activities on the vitality of historic districts. Therefore, this research proposes that the vitality revitalization of historic districts should start from three aspects: urban development planning, human behavior activities, and the primary conditions of the districts. Furthermore, it also puts forward the strategies and methods of vitality revitalization of historic districts by reviewing and sorting out representative research at home and abroad. The research provides strategies and methodological summaries for the vitality revitalization of historic districts and theoretical support for the revitalization design of historic districts.